up next on a second look, the real life events that inspired the oscar winners. that's all ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look i'm julie haener. if you watched tonight's academy awards presentations you know several of the movies were based on real people and actual events. among them argo the impossible, zero dark 30 and hitchcock. of course lincoln the story of

the behind the scenes maneuvers to pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. a war that claimed more than 600,000 lives. it was on april 12, 1861 that confederates fired the first shots of the civil war targeting the union's fort sumter in the middle of charleston. the confederates would win the battle but lose the war. the four points is a replica of that famous garretson. if was fired would try to steal the goal. in 1989 ktvu's george watson gave us this view as the military prepared to withdraw from the base and hand it over to the national park service.

>> reporter: most of the big military projects in the bay area began in the 1950s and they did not include the precidio itself. four point was to be the main base of defense against the confederate south which was thought to be on the way of seizing california. that was the thinking in 1861. four point was reassuring and at the same time impressive. but alcatraz was designed to throw fear. it was thought to be inpregnable. it was in fact, the war like san francisco bay. during the civil war years, 1861 to 1865, alcatraz bristles with 804 cannons. most of the cannons were along this side of the island. they faced the city of san francisco but more importantly,

they faced the mouth of the golden gate. from here, alcatraz was the strong point of something known then as the triangle of death. at one leg of the triangle layed four point, guarding the entrance to the bay. alcatraz with its 105 guns was the center point for symmetrical reasons. any ironclad ship could have reduced fortifications to rubble. they apparently couldn't hit anything not even a ship at anchor during a holiday celebration. >> in 1876 when america celebrated its centennial they towed an old ship to bay and they began firing at it from

all these forts. fort point, fort mason. and from marin and they finally weren't hitting the ship. they had to go out and set up hughes. in front of this huge crowd it blew up and looked quite impressive. but the tacticians found out they weren't doing a very good job against this floating target that was not going any where. >> reporter: if alcatraz missed as a fortress. somebody always thought it would make a dandy prison. in 1853, alcatraz was a gently sloping lump in the middle of the bay. by 1859 it was a military harbor defense post. and even then the first garrison of 86 men contained a contingent of military prisoners. also a u.s. army prison and by all accounts a nasty one at that. >> after the years of the civil war this room was converted

from a gun room into jail cells for military prisoners. 14 wooden wall cells were in this space. back in here, this room which was an access into some rifle slots was converted into a solitary confinement cells. there were nine in this space. vertical. the men would have to stand inside these cells, it was just enough room for their knees to hit the door. it's hard to imagine today that these idealing places on the bay giving so much to us visually and historically were once known as part of the triangle of death. the precidio was home to soldiers fighting on horse back. marching to ships waiting to carry them to war a vast ocean away. soldiers had faces of resignation, resolve and duty.

they planted trees here, thousands of them 100 years ago. they turned barren sand duned into a city. they built elegant homes for their military personnel. complete with picket fences and neatly layed out boardwalks. that was then, this is now. but 50 years ago, we came dangerously close to losing one of the prominent structures of the precidio's family. engineers wanted to put the main anchorage there on the bedrock that stood beneath the fort they were going to tear it down. chief engineer for the golden gate bridge project strauss so admired the work, he put the anchors on either side of it. above it he built a beautiful protective arch and in a way protect old fort point today.

>> gold from california helped pay for the union's civil war effort and even after the war helped repay the nation's debt. in july 1865 only a few months after the war ended and president lincoln was assassinated a wooden wheel and a cargo of gold. on its way to portland and vancouver it hit a rock in crescent city and went down. only 19 of the 244 on board survived. in 1993 a mini sub located the wreckage and after a legal battle over ownership, the operators were able to auction off the gold coins they had recovered. still to come tonight on a second look, the hostage crisis in iraq, as it unfolded and the movie it inspired. plus what it was like to go

after osama bin laden as in the movie zero dark 40.

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tonight on a second look we're looking at the real life events that inspired some of this year's oscar nominated movies. one of those is argo which tells the story of a secret operation to rescue six americans from iran. the crisis began on november 4, 1979 when iranian students overran the u.s. embassy. they would take 52 americans hostage and hold them for 444 days. the students acted under the direction of radical islamic clergymen seeking power after the shaw of iran stepped aside. during the 1880 presidential campaign the story gripped the nation. here's our coverage from the first days of the iranian hostage crisis. >> reporter: courtyard of the

embassy in tyran. as they do five times each day the students pray facing mecca. while they chant their prayers, the 60 americans and 40 asians being held hostage remain out of view. their condition is unknown, the students say all the americans are spied and are being questioned. the students also said they are being well treated. the committee of students handling the take over issued a communication saying that carter has offered to expel the shaw from the united states. but the u.s. government has remained firm the shaw be handed over. revolutionary guards stand guard. bouquets do make it through the gates they are sent by iranian women supporting the take over.

supporters have announced no one should -- reports from washington indicate the u.s. government has advised american companies to evacuate their u.s. employees. the head of the iran american chamber of commerce has going into hiding. this is liz aiken reporting. >> if you've seen the movie argo you know that six american diplomatic personnel escaped iran by posing as canadian movie makers as they made their way through europe. here's our coverage as the world received word of their escape. >> when the iranian students took over the u.s. embassy, four embassy officials and two of their wives weren't in it. as the demonstrations raged in the street the six americans made their way from tyran to

the american embassy. the time came this weekend. today canada's external flora mcdonald met to discus the escape. she said canada had issued passports to the americans and while the iranians concentrated on the elections the americans escaped to west germany. mcdonald had high prize for taylor and the canadians and americans who had kept the operation secret. >> there's no question in my mind whatsoever that had this story broken, the lives of our diplomatic core in tehran would have been in dangerous. >> reporter were unable to pry any more information from that get away. kenneth taylor sheltered the americans for three months in tehran. he was also in charge of spiriting the six americans from that country. taylor gave answers and was

very nonchalant about his own danger. >> there were a lot of memories. difficult to identify one particular event. there was a series of quite a few different events. >> would you stop at any stage? >> it had its moments. >> reporter: the crowd burst into clap and tears. a happy welcome, shouts of fellow state department employees echoing through the diplomatic rotunda. canada and canadians were cheered like much of the americans. many people including the returnees were wearing maple leaves in honor of canada. there was concern somebody might say something that would make the iranian jailers angry at the 53 americans still jailed in iraq. one of the six, robert anders

read a careful statement. >> it is difficult to fully express our appreciation for the risks the canadians took to ensure our safety and comfort. they made us feel a part of their family. especially at times such as christmas when our spirits really needed a boost. we thank them for their brave support. >> reporter: then he made a plea for the 53 still in prison. >> we must not and will not forget them. >> reporter: late this afternoon the six american returnees were rushed to the white house. the president was delighted. >> these are six bright americans that knew the people our country loved them but they didn't know how much until they

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in this year's oscar as one of the best picture nominee was zero dark 30. the back story of the raid that killed osama bin laden. a raid carried out by navy seals. the people who applied to be navy seals are among the best athletes in the military. even so only half will finish the training. so what's the difference between those who make it and those who don't. that's what bob mackenzie set out to discover in this report in 1983. >> come on charles, dig down deep. do it schultz. you don't have to make those

ugly faces just do it. >> reporter: most military men consider it the toughest training in the world. men going through it want to become navy seals but fewer than half of these men will make the grade despite the fact that all of them are superb athletes in peak condition. >> get up there. i want to see it come from your gut. >> reporter: physical stress is only part of it all of these men would have volunteered for this court and have passed a series of tests to get here. to get this far could be very hard to take. >> come on agent curran. see you a little bit of gut check here. >> reporter: the training had two purposes, one to take the trainees into realms of physical accomplishment beyond what they knew they were capable of.

two to break anyone who might break in combat. >> how are you doing bud? >> got it in. >> down. >> reporter: when a man can't take any more physical or mental stress he has a way out. he can stand in this spot and ring the bell three times. he'll then be mustered out of the unit. during our stay two men rang the bell. because this is considered such a disgrace, we did not ask to video tape them. they'll have enough trouble forgetting that moment. this exercise is about the kind of work seals do. sneaking on to an enemy beach in a small boat usually at night. attacking a target and escaping back to a waiting ship or submarine. they do this exercise over and

over in any kind of weather including storms that raise 6- foot waves. >> we got one down. one down. in a two foot wave. unbelievable. >> reporter: looks like they beat you half to death here. is the idea to get you to be discouraged? >> it's to make you a harder individual. when the time comes, this is what's going to happen in our future. we get on the teams, it's to make you more prepared for when those things happen so you'll mentally be ready for it. >> are you a naturally brave guy would you say? >> i would like to think so, sir. >> you know some of these guys aren't going to make it through this. are you going to be one of them. >> i try not to think about it like that. i take one step at a time, if need be, hour by hour. >> reporter: a guy would like to take a nap before lunch. what they will get here instead is a 4-mile run before lunch.

>> get uphill. get up here. get up there. >> break a hole each side. take a hole. >> you're the victim, you're the buddy. we'll see the whole thing. don't be kicking when you're the victim do you understand. >> yeah. >> do it. >> though the seals now operate in desert and jungle their natural habitat is the water. they are still frog men. it's a rule in the force that a seal is never left behind.

dead or alive, never. once the trainees can perform every operation in the pool including picking up an object on their teeth while their hands and legs are tied they take to the saltwater to do the same type of thing. >> the lifestyle they have is what i want to lead. >> life like a movie, huh. >> kind of, sir. >> reporter: the navy seals exploits in korea often have been like a movie. just that the danger is sometimes death. janet lee talks about her role in the movie psycho. move the tv there.

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tonight on a second look we're looking at some of the real life stories behind this year's oscar nominated films. hitchcock directed many movies

but perhaps none scarier than psycho. the movie was well known for its shower scene. lee told elaine that shower scene took seven days to shoot with 71 different camera set ups. >> technically it was a difficult scene for camera change, the lens change because it starts real close and then it pulls back, gradually and all that you had to change the lens of all these different distances. and i had to be absolutely still. what i wore in the shower scene was mold skin over my vitals. and on this shot where it

looked like we were really going to get it, i could feel the steam from the shower had had losened the adhesive on the mold skin. and i'm there you know, i could feel it kind of pulling away. and i am thinking, now the camera it was below the tub came up so below the camera view. but the guys upstairs were having a ball. but i could just feel it pulling away and i thought to myself, do i, do i break -- do i say sorry, cut and we have to do this thing again. or do i say to heck with and you know and i said to heck with it. and so -- >> good for you did they actually come off? >> pretty much so, yeah. >> was he